Blur’s Damon Albarn has slammed the crowd at Coachella, as fans branded the festival-goers ’embarrassing’ after their apathetic reaction during the band’s set.
The iconic Britpop band performed a 13-song set at the California music festival, including ’90s classics like Girls & Boys, Popscene and Song 2.
They also brought out the Torres Martinez Cahuilla Bird Singers, a group of tribal singers from the Mojave Desert, where Coachella is held.
However, the crowd at their set was less than enthusiastic, and their apathy became apparent to the band on stage.
Lead singer Damon could be seen looking increasingly irritated as he tried in vain to interact with the crowd.
The crowd at Coachella is being branded ’embarrassing’ and ‘dead’ after footage of Blur’s set on Saturday night went viral
The British band performed a 13-song set at the California music festival, including ’90s classics like Girls & Boys, Popscene and Song 2
However, the crowd at their set was less than enthusiastic, and their apathy became apparent to the band on stage
For their 1994 hit Girls & Boys, the musician tried to get everyone to sing along to the chorus several times, but there was radio silence.
Frustrated, he declared that the band would not return to the festival, saying, “You’ll never see us again, so you might as well sing it.”
Clips of the toe-curling moment quickly spread on social media, with many fans slamming the Coachella crowd for having the “worst vibes” and declaring that they “didn’t deserve to be graced by the presence of blur ‘.
They wrote, “These coachella people do NOT deserve this hazy setlist, you’re kidding me; Lord, please take away all my suffering and give it to the blurry crowd at Coachella; Why does everyone at Coachella lowkey want Blur dead; the crowd due to blur at coachella was so embarrassing, damon i’m so sorry i wasn’t there’.
“America, you don’t deserve Damon Albarn, you don’t deserve Blur. I will burn you to the ground; I should be at Coachella watching Blur and performing back to back no doubt, and not these kids… they don’t get it; Coachella, you don’t deserve to be blessed by the presence of blur.”
“I actually feel sorry for the blur at Coachella, they deserve better; Coachella looks like the worst. Bad blur; honestly, that crowd did NOT deserve a blur, except for the few people actually making noise; blame the rich Californians for the dead, blurry crowd, not just the Americans sigh’.
“Most of these people at Coachella don’t even know how lucky they are to see blur THAT SHOULD BE ME; Thanks to every Coachella goer who went to Blur and probably ruined the chances of seeing any more American shows for our American Blur lovers.
‘the SILENCE when blur came out pls; coachella doesn’t deserve blur. I should be there; WHAT THE F*** HAPPENS, I’m convinced Coachella has the worst possible atmosphere and people. it’s fucking Blur, show some respect!!!!’
Lead singer Damon Albarn (pictured) looked increasingly irritated as he tried in vain to engage with the crowd
Frustrated, he declared that the band would not return to the festival, saying, “You’ll never see us again, so you might as well sing it.”
Clips of the toe-curling moment quickly spread on social media, with many fans criticizing the Coachella crowd as having the “worst vibes” and declaring that they “didn’t deserve to be graced by the presence of blur’.
Others pointed out that Coachella attendees were likely unfamiliar with Blur, claiming they would only be aware of recent music and not the impact of Britpop.
They tweeted: ‘Coachella would never be the right audience for Blur. Still gutted for them!!; I wish Britpop was more known in America. Seeing this makes me feel ashamed.”
‘I can’t help but think the crowd at Coachella has no idea who Blur is.; “You know who we should book for Saturday’s 7:30am here at Coachella? Blur, whose entire discography combined has sold slightly less in the United States than Limp Bizkit’s Chocolate Starfish and Hot Dog Flavored Water in their first seven days on sale. ”
‘Do these kids from #Coachella2024 even know who Blur is?; The fact that 19-year-old Americans don’t know who Blur is is a shame. Sing for Uncle Damon. TO SING. Without Blur you have no Doja Cat, no Tyler the Creator, no Ice Spice. Fact.’
Many other fans stated on social media that the band should return to Europe instead, stating that they would give Blur the crowd reaction they deserved.
They wrote: ‘Blur, come to Glasto instead. We are waiting for you!! I think we need more UK Blur shows just to show Coachella what a real crowd looks like’.
‘I should have done a British festival. Coachella looks dead.; so hyper fixated on blur, it’s sickening. I should have been there, I would have given them the best audience ever. that audience didn’t deserve that setlist’.
‘damon, there are mentally ill teenagers and chronically online youth who livetweet the entire blurry set, wake up at 5am to it and obsessively take screenshots and screen recordings. the crowd doesn’t define blur. come back to the other side of the world come back comeback’.
Others pointed out that Coachella attendees were likely unfamiliar with Blur, emphasizing that they would only be familiar with recent music and not the impact of Britpop.
Damon performed at Coachella last year with his other band, Gorillaz, while Blur last played the festival in 2013.
Before their show, Damon and bassist Alex James spoke KROQ about returning to the desert.
They revealed that they decided to organize the festival after receiving a phone call in the evening saying they had five minutes to decide whether to perform.
Alex said: “This has been a great opportunity, it’s the biggest festival in the world. If I wasn’t here, I’d honestly have FOMO.”
When asked how they thought the audience would react, Damon admitted, “I have no idea how it will go. It’s a weird one, Coachella when it comes to audiences.
‘That is sometimes difficult to say, because they are somewhat on their own planet, the audience.’
Many other fans stated on social media that the band should return to Europe instead, stating that they would give Blur the crowd reaction they deserved.
Before their show, Damon and bassist Alex James spoke to KROQ about their return to the desert, revealing that they received a phone call in the evening telling them they had five minutes to decide whether to perform.